Star Trek: Lower Decksseason 5 is the beloved animated comedy’s final season on Paramount+. Created by Mike McMahan,Star Trek: Lower Deckspremiered in 2020 as the third Star Trek on Paramount+ series, followingStar Trek: DiscoveryandStar Trek: Picard.Lower Decksis also the first animatedStar TreksinceStar Trek: The Animated Seriesin the 1970s, and it’s thefirst-ever half-hourStar Trekcomedy.
For five seasons,Star Trek: Lower Deckshas charted the hilarious voyages of the USS Cerritos, spotlighting the junior officers of"one of Starfleet’s least important ships." Lower Deckstakes place in the early 2280s, andbrought back the popular aesthetic and iconography ofStar Trek: The Next Generation’s 24th century. Ensigns Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome), Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid), D’Vana Tendi (Noel Wells), and Sam Rutherford (Eugene Cordero) gained a fifth Lower Decker, T’Lyn (Gabrielle Ruiz), and the Warp Core Five were all promoted to Lieutenant, junior grade, inStar Trek: Lower Decksseason 4.
Why Paramount Plus Is Ending Star Trek: Lower Decks After 5 Seasons
Lower Decks is the fourth Star Trek series ending at Paramount+
Paramount+ announced theend ofStar Trek: Lower Deckswith season 5 in March 2024, while simultaneously renewingStar Trek: Strange New Worldsfor season 4. This makesLower Decksthe fourthStar Trekseries wrapping up on Paramount+ afterStar Trek: Picard, Star Trek: Prodigy, andStar Trek: Discovery.The reasonStar Trek: Lower Decksis ending is driven by finances; despite being a relatively inexpensive animated series, Paramount+ is reacting to the changes in the streaming business model. In addition, Paramount Studios' sale to Skydance has forced the streamer to trim its bottom line.
Star Trek Ending Its Animated Comedy Still Makes No Sense
Star Trek: Lower Decks is entering its fifth and final season on Paramount+, but the prevalent question is why?
Despite being relatively inexpensive to produce compared to live-action series,Star Trek: Lower Decksunfortunately doesn’t garner the same level of streaming numbers asStar Trek: Picardseason 3 orStar Trek: Strange New Worlds.Star Trek on Paramount+ has scaled down its projects for the few years,with the focus being the runaway hitStrange New Worldsand the next live-action series,Star Trek: Starfleet Academy,which stars Academy Award-caliber actors Holly Hunter and Paul Giamatti. It’s a consolation that in the streaming era,Star Trek: Lower Decks' 5 seasons is an impressive run, matchingStar Trek: Discovery’s lifespan.
Can Star Trek: Lower Decks Jump To Another Streaming Service?
Save Lower Decks!
Star Trek: Lower Decksis concluding on Paramount+, but, encouragingly, it may not be the definitive end of the animated comedy.Star Trekexecutive producer Alex Kurtzman andStar Trek: Lower Decks' showrunner Mike McMahan have been deliberately careful with their phrasing that season 5 isStar Trek: Lower Decks’final seasonon Paramount+.Kurtzman and McMahan have strongly hinted that there ishope thatLower Deckscould go to another streaming service or continue elsewhere in some form if the streaming numbers for season 5 (and the overall series) are impressive and attractive enough to pick up the show.
Futuramahas survived cancelation by FOX and jumped to Comedy Central and Hulu since its premiere in 1999.
Star Trek: Prodigybecame the gold standard for jumping to a new streaming service when Paramount+ abruptly canceled the CGI animated series and dumped all of its episodes.A dedicated fan campaign rose up to saveStar Trek: Prodigy,even hiring anairplane to literally flyProdigy’s banner. Netflix ultimately picked upStar Trek: Prodigy,acquiring and streaming all 40 episodes of season 1 and season 2. IfStar Trek: Lower Deckscan harness the same passion and unyielding dedication asStar Trek: Prodigy, it could also potentially find a new streaming home.
Can Lower Decks Cross Over With Other Star Trek?
The USS Cerrtios' Lower Deckers could jump to live-action
While there are no indications yet thatStar Trek: Lower Deckswill continue after season 5 on Paramount+, this may not be the end of the characters aboard the USS Cerritos. Tawny Newsome and Jack Quaid brought their animated characters to live-action in acrossover withStar Trek: Strange New Worlds.Star Trekis a shared universe that has become even more integrated and self-referential,and there is potential for Mariner, Boimler, and their friends to jump to live-action and appear inStar Trek: Starfleet Academyas holograms, through time travel, or other sci-fi means.
Tawny Newsome is part ofStar Trek: Starfleet Academy’s writer’s room.
Another possibility for thelive-action return ofStar Trek: Lower Decks' characters lies with Tawny Newsome. As announced at San Diego Comic-Con, Newsome and Justin Simien are developing the firstlive-actionStar Trekhalf-hour workplace comedy. As an executive producer, it’s quite possible Newsome could invite Jack Quaid, Eugene Cordero, Noel Wells, Gabrielle Ruiz, Dawnn Lewis (Captain Carol Freeman), and/or Jerry O’Connell (Commander Jack Ransom) as their Lower Decks' characters in live-action. Even asStar Trek: Lower Deckswraps up on Paramount+, it may not be goodbye forever to the brave Starfleet Officers of the USS Cerritos.
